I don’t see how you cant see the comparison. Israel is in the vipers nest being next to multiple powers that would’ve overran it completely without our involvement. There is no way Israel would’ve fought off Iran if we had abandoned the region historically. We give aid to Israel each year. We fund their military, we funded the Iron Dome and we likely gave Israel nukes or the resources to acquire nukes under the table. How are you not seeing the comparison? So yes. When it benefits us, we will ensure that a country does not fall to adversaries. So like I said, don’t say we can’t. We just decided the juice isn’t worth the squeeze when it comes to Afghanistan.
I see your point, but I see it differently. No use dragging out helping corrupt quagmires just to protect a citizenry that refuses to do it themselves.
It’s more comparable to South Vietnam due to the nature of why we were there, length, and what transpired after we left.
It really comes down to the will and ability to fight. It’s the same thing in this country when it comes to COVID. Not enough people are selfless enough to sacrifice their comfort to benefit the country as a whole, so everyone suffers instead of benefitting from the sacrifice. We have stupid people wanting to be as smart as doctors and scientists. They have greedy people who want to be politically in charge or high ranking military officials.
Israel would rather go out swinging than allow their geopolitical enemies to overrun them (Hence the 6 Days War). Don’t get me wrong, Israel has become a bully country but that’s because they’ve taken the resources that have been given to them and maximized results.
But let’s look at other nations who have been in the same boat. Not Latin American, African and Caribbean countries that we attempt to meddle and control with puppets. But instead countries we gave tools and money to build back better (See what I did there). Japan rebuilt their economy. South Korea still relies on us for some security, but has a more than robust economy and eschews corruption. Germany, same.
We dumped trillions of dollars that we could have easily used for our infrastructure/education system/battle climate change, only not to destroy the enemy for them (Don’t get me started on Tora Bora). We have engaged in nation building while trying to keep the Taliban marginalized as well as attempt to bring them in as honest brokers so that the other group could be a massive check. We’ve given their military everything we possibly could. And it’s still not enough. We have them time. And it still wasn’t enough. There aren’t enough of them willing to battle to maintain their society.
But also in both Vietnam and Afghanistan, we’ve extracted as much of the resources that we could want (Capitalist Business Interests) without worrying that there would be panic in the streets. The money isn’t in defending them any longer because the American public has said no more. And if they can’t fight to keep their marketplaces and trade system open for commerce, then business will find another marketplace to dump products and trade within. That’s the part of capitalism people forget about….. the battles using guns, tanks and planes to allow the good and services to be allocated and distributed in relative safety (or the illusion of it). But that’s only to a point.
The State Department is negotiating with the Taliban, just as we did with Viet Cong, to not target Americans while we withdraw. Because they are the true fighters in their country. The always have been. This was always the end result without putting more American citizens in the meat grinder. They would be glad to have us do it while they benefit.
The Afghani Army is a farce. They have the training. They have the weaponry. They’ve even had the money and focus on education and economics from our government and private interests. They aren’t the fighters of their country. They’ve lived in relative comfort with our help. If they let Kabul fall, it’s not our fault. It’s exclusively the Afghan government, their Army, and their citizens.
Just like the South Vietnamese. And sadly, just like the current incarnation of the United States.